Women's by the Bay 5K 2009

Heather and I ran the Women's by the Bay 5K last Sunday.. placing 2nd overall Mom & Daughter team! (they combined our finishing times and the top three combined times get awards).. oh yeah and I beat her to the finish!

Our journey started early.. we were up by 4:45 am.. no wait let me rephrase that.. I was up at 4:45 am...and by 5:30 am we were on our way to Havre de Grace, Maryland....for our MOM/DAUGHTER RACE.....no problem.. if you were the 23 year old sleeping for the hour and a half drive...

So we get there around 7:00 am which secured us a good parking spot and gave us a chance to get our race packets and bib numbers without waiting in lines... my bib number was lucky number 13..

I needed to warm up a bit and told heather that I was going to take a bit of a jog about to wake up the muscles... asked if she wanted to come along... I don't think she needed to answer.. but the look said it all.. OK, I will be back.. she was going to nap in the truck a bit.. must be nice to be 23!


So I noticed my back was a LOT of a bit stiff.. I wonder if it was the drive, or yeah hauling 20 bags of mulch the day before... so I slap some Bengay on my back..and off I go..... what a pretty morning.. and I love love LOVE running by the water... the race takes place right at the corner of a park in Havre de Grace with fantastic views of the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay...

...PEACE AND HARMONY... by the time I got back to the truck... I was panting... sweating.. and a mess.... OH BOY we are in trouble!!!.. this was only the tip of the heat wave that would take over the day.

My back still felt a bit sore... so what do I do?... put on MORE Bengay of course... … note to self.. NO PUT ON Bengay on already hot back... my back went on FIRE.. like someone held a blow torch to it .... I started jumping up and down and was like AHHHHHHHH.... heather my back is on fire.. OMG …!!!

Unimpressed with my concerns that I may internally combust.... she just yawned and said, "Stop complaining".. I wanted to slap Bengay on her face…

So we line up.. 400 women in race.. a flowing stream of women and girls...... Heather and I line up on the front line.. YOU BET.. pretend you are great and just maybe you will fool the others.. seemed to work for me.. . and off we go... I tried really hard not to go out too fast... but again clocked some stupidly ridiculous number in the first half mile... but I get to first mile in around 7.11….

.. a youngster.. I am guessing.. 12-14-years old?... thin as a rail... girl... cut me off at a corner…run right over me... . she absolutely most certainly cut in front of me to take the corner sharp.. its NOT like you can't see the giant ole hag with the large thighs coming... this caused me to have to back step and lose some momentum... I was NOT happy..

I was purposely trying to take the tangents of the course because they had informed us that the course was a smidgen long.. 3.14 to be exact..instead of 3.1 ...like I guess I should not worry about and an extra 0.04 ....but I need all the help I can get.. so I cut into every corner I could…guess she had the same idea...

So I jockeyed for position and realizing she is purposely countering each of my moves... I shot across the road away from her.. and she somehow gravitated back towards me.... like HELLO!!!...OK.. so lets all feel sorry for the young girl on the course.. BULL SH-T!!!.. she knows exactly what she is doing... I cant believe she is trying to put the moves on this old hag! And I just can't be mean.. and she KNOWS IT!!!..Wendy learn to not let “innocent” youngsters get to you...

Going up to mile 2 there is a slight incline and usually my slowest mile on this course.. this year same thing.. but even slower.. I got to mile two in 15.30..I knew then I was NOT making my goal finish time of in the 22's (as I would need to be in the 14's on mile 2)… but I didn’t get discouraged .. I just kept saying to myself.. this is really painful.... but keep it up....DEAL WITH IT!

I tried to push it the last mile.. because the last mile is really flat and easy but I just could NOT get the legs moving any faster.... and I started to feel the heat and humidity.... people were starting to drop like flies.. I passed two people walking who were ahead of me.. one was in spandex pants.. ARE YOU KIDDING!!!!! ...who runs in spandex when it's 70 degrees and 89% humidity?????....I would have blow up.. in a giant puff ball.. the medics would have had to throw my flaming body in ice... just to be able to touch me...

Oh.. and then justice is SERVED... I passed the little twit that cut me off.. she was walking.. SO sad... aw.......

Screw you... little... b-tch.. (I KNOW I AM SOO GOING STRAIGHT TO H-LL).... so I am realizing that I am now SUPER concentrating on trying to finish when with a half mile to go.. two women pass me.. UGH... and one was in my age group I later find out.. can't do much about it.. at peak race pace for me right now…

Hit mile 3 at 22.50 something… not as good as last year, ugh… last 100 meters I tried to sprint.. I almost caught the b-stards that pass me but not enough juice left ... ended up 23.47… I will take it… not as good as last year's 23.20 something… but d-mn ok with it for now!!!! I AM DONE running and thats it... !

I waited for poor heather to come in.. she came in around 25 something.. I couldn’t talk to her for 10 minutes after the race because all I got was, “I am NEVER EVER running again..E-V-E-R… and don’t EVER sign me up for anything like this again!”..…

GREAT mother daughter bonding experience..

BUT alls well that ends well.. by the time my internal body temperature normalized and I stopped melting everything I touched and she stopped feeling like she was going to heave, we checked the results... and were pleasantly excited to find out we placed 2nd Mother Daughter team.. AND... she placed third in her age group (20-24)... AND I placed first in my age group (40-44).. (thankfully they took out top three woman -there was a 40 year old in the top 3.. and then top three masters.. I think there was a 40 year old there too)..

Makes it all worth while....


...so we go to accept our awards and they give us something that looked like a cross between is it a metal buoy.. or missile?... (come to find out later they are water bottles).. we smiled.. and got pictures with them... and once we walked away Heather was like, “I can't believe I killed myself for a freaking water bottle”…

(see last year they gave us a really nice plaque with mom daughter 2nd place on it.. this water bottle did not have anything on it but the race name.. no way to determine what place we won or what we won... and we got the same exact water bottle for our age group placings…)

So now we have TWO no wait FOUR ugly stupid water bottles.. and they are too big to hold when we run.. and we already have 30 plus water bottles.. so I think I will keep one for display and the others use for target practice... or as buoys for the crab traps down at the beach..

Everyone should spend time with their kids...

Women’s By The Bay 5K 2009 Race Results

News Clip – Brain Throwing Up on Paper

I just couldn’t get to updating the blog this week.. or last week.. it's just that..

I am the only person I know who can run three marathons, a 50K trail race, a full Ironman Distance Triathlon, plus countless other races in one year... and CAN NOT ....CAN NOT....make 120 visits to her local YMCA..... So does NOT get reimbursed for the healthy lifestyle program.. reimbursement of $100... how is that possible!?????.......

Stick.. pick up sticks.. If I pick up one more stick I will scream.. I was stick picker upper last weekend so Joe could mow.. I think an entire tree regurgitated on the lawn.. and don’t even tell me to hire someone.. have you seen anyone willing to be paid $10 to pick up sticks ... I THINK NOT... this ole back no likey this kinda work..a week after the fact I still have to hold my back when bending over to pick up the dog..

Turkey crossing - That’s an AWFUL BIG BIRD WENDY... . coffee in hand looking out of window into back yard..... I think it’s a buzzard.... BUT THAT’S A BIG BIRD.... nah not ugly enough ....maybe it’s a turkey.. have you ever seen a live turkey?...No....well it walking through our yard... go out there an getta picture...

Brother turned 40, nephew turned 4... and how many birthday parties can one person attend in one weekend .........no way the bro is 40 since I am older and still only 30...

Isabella – UGH: Yeah well the dog... I was on dog duty for a few days solo while Joe went to Atlanta on business.. this meant instead of us splitting the getting up with the dog.. we usually switch back and forth on who get up.. I was 100% on my own.... the dilemma is I go to bed early AND REALLY NEED LOTS OF SLEEP..... so of course she gets up at 12:30am needs to go out.. I have to GET UP out of a sound sleep... pick her up.. carry her outside... wait.. yawn.. bring her back in... back to bed.. ahhh... then OMG back up at 4:30am .. UP AGAIN out of a sound sleep.. pick her up.. take her outside... wait... yawn.. back inside....I jump back in bed.. ahh.. only an hour till have to get up... but I can zzzzzzzz.....for the next 20 minutes the dog proceeds to make all sort of exaggerated noises... coughing.. breathing really heavy.. walks into things purposely because she SOO can navigate the house even being blind I have seen her.. but she is making this a big ole issue because I wont feed her...

I SAID NO BREAKFAST UNTIL 5AM... obviously her plan and my plan do not mash... I now lay in bed listening to all this for 20 minutes.. until I get up at 4:50.. and feed her.. her F_ breakfast.!!!!!.. like holy shit you are NOT GOING to starve to death! ...UGH UGH UGH... once she gets her breakfast she comes back to bed and all is good in her life...

Heat acclimating.. heavy legs....It got kinda hot towards the end of this week during the training runs...and the leggies have been feeling kinda heavy .. like someone dropped two bags of shit in each one... I am sure hoping by Sunday’s 5K that all become nicey nice again.. and that I can run like a Kenyan instead of an Athena... it's tough trying to heat acclimate when you are in a comfy controlled environment all day... nothing like working in an office... not only do you have artificial lighting to make you have a nice gray pallor you also get to breath the nice climate controlled stale air.. .just get me out!

Joe trail run .. some sorta lightening event.. Joe was in Atlanta for a few days this week on business and he and his boss took a run on a trail.. a very HILLY trail by the way.. I checked the elevation of these hills once he can home and put his garmin specs on the computer.. his garmin by the way is a GPS unit that registers his pace, heart rate and elevation... so I am looking at the elevation and I am like.. did you have to walk up any of those hills?... And he looked at me like I asked him to drink poison...... no ....ok.. well ... Whatever (I would have walked.. those were some hills)... so he proceeds to tell me that a thunderstorm was brewing in the distance when they were running and that those thunderbolts were getting closer and closer and they just barely made it back to their cars... and later they come to find out a lightening bolt hit the airport's control tower.. like yeah I would get me on a plane... oh really ...

Pays to be Prepared - Boston hotel booked... YEAH... now I most certainly love this.... Each year through the Boston Marathon website they offer a list of hotels.. probably around 30+ or so hotels that offer discounted rates for people who run the Boston Marathon... so of course you know me... I researched this last year and pulled up all the hotels on the list that met the criteria that I wanted for a hotel... close to finish... indoor swim pool and hottub... internet service... not too ritzy. .not too expensive.. breakfast options.. etc... so I pick my three hotels.. and wait until they open up the list for the April 2010 hotels .....as I know the hotels sell out quickly and I don’t want to end up in some bug invested hostel that is an hour away from Boston.. so they listed the hotels.. I picked my top three and then I sent in a check for one nights room as a deposit... note I will get my deposit back minus a $20 handling fee if I have to cancel or want to cancel the hotel prior to February 2010... SO ALAS I prepared.. when I QUALIFY for Boston I will have a hotel!! ...YES......And if I don’t qualify this year I will just lose $20...... Great stuff huh!??.....

SO somehow I convince Denise.. my run bud to also put her deposit down.. because we BOTH intend to qualify for Boston.. G-D HELP US!... So I am ECSTATIC... UNTIL... would you believe that the hotel we booked.. my number one choice...the one that I researched as the best option... IS ALSO the hotel that the Craig List killer ....killed that gal in a few weeks ago..
ARE YOU F- KIDDING ME!!!!..... out of the 30+ hotels on the list.... I pick the one hotel that has to be named in a murder.. I am soo FREAKING OUT now.. do I cancel reservation ???...change to a different hotel... ???...or keep it and wonder if the room I am staying in .. is that... room.. .OMG... I can’t win a scratch off ticket but I can book a room a person is murdered in... .. nice

Bee or not to be.. today I did my yard work.. tons of it... and I was planting my seedlings in my little seed cups.. doing that on my porch enjoying the beautiful day and a rather large... I would say VERY large bumble bee pays me a visit.. he visited me the other day when I was sitting on porch so this was not the first time that I saw him.. so hello Mr. bumble bee.. what's you doing.. and this bee hovers about a foot away from me... I go about my business...he played this kinda game the other day and I did try and take a picture but it didn’t really turn out... but today.. the bee just annoyed me... so I poked my finger at him.. you would have thought I had laser beams coming off my finger tips.. I never touched him but he... did like a back summersault in mid air... almost flew into the bush and then picked himself back up and came back.. and once again hovered about a foot from me..

So I did that again.. I poked at him in the air.. and HE FREAKED OUT again... flipping over and flying backwards away... then zooming back... so we played this game for about 5 minutes and then I HAD to get back to what I was doing but now he was creeping closer.. and I was afraid he was going to like make a sneak attack and come bite my head or something.. so I tried to swish him away.. well this proceeded to either invigorate him or aggravate him because now he's back and closer... swish him....back.. swish.. back... I gave up and went inside... I just know the next time I go out he is going to bite my ass.... Does Dr. Doolittle sound familiar????.... What kinda KARMA do I have!!! ??

Womens by the Bay 5K - mother daughter race... tomorrow is the Womens By the Bay 5K in Havre de Grace, Maryland.. this will be the third year for the race and the third year I am running it. Last year my daughter also ran it with me and we won 2nd place for a mother daughter team.. they combined our finish times.. and thus we won 2nd... this year we are once again running it together... I give her credit.. she hasn’t trained much this year .. in fact I think she only trained a couple times... and she is still coming out to do the race.. if she passes me... I SO WILL GIVE UP RUNNING>>

Marathon at Lehigh in September - revised training schedule ..Signed Joe and I up to do another marathon this fall... . I had concluded I needed two shots at placing for Boston...and Joe would just want to run for fun.. so signed him up too... (ha).... so I picked the Lehigh Marathon.. which is in Allentown area.. and they swear it is not hilly.. and I AM GOING TO TELL YOU... every single solid race that I have run up in that area... that they have SAID IS FLAT OR NOT HILLY... has been HILLY.....so those.. PA “mountain people”...... rate hills differently than us “beach bottom dwellers”.. because them's some hills up there... but will see.. perhaps they found a nice flattish 26.2 mile section... .. so cant wait... but if something goes array with this one.. I still have the Rehoboth Marathon on November 21st...

Heather Graduation Party – Heather’s college graduation party is in less than a month.. alas.. the reason for my total brain failure... I have been trying to get everything done.. the house clean, the gardens clean, plus finish up my semester for school.. and well NO WONDER I have not found the extra motivation or time to swim.. and bike ...in preparation for Eagleman... yikes!!!

NOT swimming or biking – Eagleman Triathlon.. HALF IRONMAN.. which is a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run is in Mid June.. I have a little over a month to train.. run training – no problem.. swim.. ..um... bike... um.. I HAVE GOT to get to this.. you know how bad my ass is going to hurt if I don’t get it back on the bike.. and that’s if I don’t drown myself first.. JEEZ US...

Busy at work – Work has been busy... busy... busy.. I think everyone is crazy but me...

Class ended... Finally ended this semester... passed with an “A”!... ARIGHTY!!!...enough... don’t have to go back to class until the end of June.... That should help!

Mulch-A-MULCH.... 20 bags.....something almost satisfying about lifting mulch bags, and mulching the gardens.... Life is good... although I may not be able to physcially lift my beat up ole body outta bed tomorrow for the race.. the gardens will look great!

Will keep you posted.. PEACE OUT

ME NO PLACE NOW!!! THIEVES.. !!

OMG.. well it looks like AFTER THE fact that they decided to go with 10 year age groups (so 40-49).... instead of 5 year age groups (40-44 and 45-49) for the race... so AFTER the fact they changed it..

Unbelievable.. I would have NEVER known had I not just rechecked results today.. as of yesterday they were still listed in 5 year age groups... that was two days AFTER the race...

I guess I ain't seeing no award!!!... OH well..ALSO of interesting note is that a group of the top runners ran the wrong way and cut off ONE MILE off the course… but they were still counted in results!!

THEY RUN A mile less and they still get to place!!...OK.. that seems fair... UGH ARGH... NOT!!!....THEY are soo unorganized… SO NO PLACEY FOR ME ANYMORE!! I went from 2nd in my 5 yr age group to 5th in the 10 year age group..! They shouldnt change it AFTER the fact... if they were going with 10 year age groups they should have stuck with that in beginning... thats kinda like..SUCKS!

Dorchester County YMCA - Half Marathon & Relay
Timing via IPICO Technology by Charm City Run - Timing
Cambridge, MD April 11, 2009

There were several options we could have taken with the run mistake taken by several of the top runners. (The error was exactly one mile off the course - 12.1 vs 13.1). Those who ran the shorter version have been designated with and asterisk. We chose to base the results by the pace taken by all participants vs disqualification. Next year we will be USATF certified and will disqualify all that do not follow the route. thank you for your concern.

Cambridge Half Marathon 2009

Tummy bug
I have absolutely ZERO..ZIL..ZING,... NADA.. NOPE.. NUNNA.. nothing left....I was actually quite proud of myself... that I finished today's race..actually running... going into the race I knew...but I wanted to see how far I could get. The body felt... felt as though someone sucked every bit of life and energy out of me...



For those following my drama... I had developed some sort a TUMMY BUG on Wed, accompanied by a brain splitting headache and a whole bunch of other NOT so fun delights.. and although I felt better in a day...my stomach just wouldn't settle.. SO for the last three days... anything I have put in the body...HAS LEFT...AND QUICKLY....like my wonderful Lasagna carb meal last night...which didn’t even wait an hour.... oh and whats with NO PORT-A-Pots on the course...!! ??? NOT COOL!


Nothing really hurt... but really.... how could I hurt when I can't MOVE fast enough to feel hurt!!! ....UGH ARGHH... I guess snails can hurt too...ok so..susie the snail here felt like someone attached a hose and vacuumed out her inserts... is that descriptive enough?...I just could not move the body any faster.. .. and there was NOTHING I could do about it.. thems the breaks... ...I had been lightheaded since around mile 8 and almost fell into the gutter a couple time...kinda F- funny......although I think I was subconsciously wishing this on myself.. because then I could ride in a nice warm ambulance...


My brain was fuzzy..... fuzzier than NORMAL......oh no... the blood sugar was taking a big ole dive... and then there was the finish line....I vaguely recall Joe screaming to sprint or some sorta horse shit like that... but I was done... .. and VERY HAPPY to be done... 1.58 and something.. around my average half time... and I ended up placing 2nd age... THANK G_D for 5 year age groups.. ! ENOUGH!


(This is Joe getting his gear on)
Joe once again did a phenomenal job.... coming within 1 minute of his best time and 4th in his age group. 1.44.21....Joe also had some stomach issues this week but said they didn’t affect him as much as me although he did pull his quad muscle during a training run and with all his HATENESS of rain..I am very proud that he mentally toughed it out!


We didn’t get any finisher medals.. SUCKS>>> I mean I was kinda WAITING for my hardware!!!.... UGH GRRR...they said they were trying to go Eco-friendly or some kinda horseshit like that... cheap AS MO-FOs...and I didn’t get anything yet for my age group placing... they mentioned something about mailing certificates to the 2nd and 3rd place citizens..oops I mean winners.. blaaa...

Well its still raining....and so we may have to put away all good intentions of going out for a bike ride.. AWE SUCH A SHAME...
NAP TIME!

I am laying here typing... waiting to see if the cheese and crackers that I just ate will stay down... if so... we are SOOO going to try and get a good dinner in tonight! ...Oh and by the way... look at my hair!!!! .....A bit of wind and rain does wonders....what a RATS NEST!.. will post results soon as they are listed!

RESULTS:

Joe: 4th out of 10 in age group, and 33rd out of 164 overall

(200 people had signed up to run but only 164 actually did due to weather conditions)

Wendy: 2nd out of 18 age group, and 75th out of 164 overall


Cambridge Half Marathon Results

100%

Oh yeah baby....I am #100...that is my bib number for tomorrow’s half marathon (13.1 miles) in Cambridge Maryland... Joe is #99... How cool is that!?

Tomorrow Cambridge is also celebrating their 325th Anniversary and they have a whole day of celebrations and a block party starting at 4pm...thus the special gold seal you see on my racing bib.

Not sure what the weather is going to do.. big storm coming.. GEE GO FIGURE THAT!....now that’s really usual... um..NOT!...the weather people state:

Windy with a steady rain early then remaining cloudy
with a few showers. High 57 (suppose to be around 51 and rain @ 8am when we
start).. JUST LOVE THIS.. winds out of the north... 20-30 mph...

Yup... that should make for some really fast times... UMMMM...NOT!... I don’t think the wind will get that high in the am... they are only calling for around 13 mph then... I’ll take that.... I guess the higher winds will be later? ....So what's that mean for our bike ride?


We brought the bikes.. thought we could get in a good old 56 mile bike ride later on Saturday... riding the Eagleman course or part of Chessy Man course for fun.. depending on violent weather and all.. not that weather should be a deterrent on us doing the bike ride but I think me and Cambridge have had enough practice in the rain and changing FLAT tires... so will see..


Definitely looking forward to a really fun weekend.. we love it down here... and this will be Joe’s first chance to run in an official race here... will be my third time... AT LEAST I DON’T HAVE TO FREAKING GET IN THE WATER THIS TIME!!! ....Did you all see how calm the water is, check out pic below.... I couldn’t believe it... we saw a jelly fish.. yup.. what's with that???.... didn’t think it was warm enough yet... that is NOT A good sign for June... when I come back to swim in the shit....heck...

Our hotel is great.. we are stying at the Holiday Inn Express down here.. and just love it.. hot tub and indoor pool... and down the road is a great Italian Greek restaurant that we can gorge ourselves in...


What to expect for times tomorrow.. ??...don’t know.. been sick this week... so haven’t eaten much for a few days.. and haven’t run in a few days... and Joe got sick too... so going into race a bit weaker than usual.. but Joe says he still going kick my a-s.. he better hope I don’t hide his timing band...
(Joe facebooking at dinner in pic)

At least I am #100... and not #99 with 1% filler.. ha.... Going to see what tomorrow brings when tomorrow comes... I love running in rain and Joe HATES rain.. perhaps this will give me a mental advantage over him? ....So far there are only around 200 people signed up... we didn’t look but I can probably bet that most will be in our age group.. usually are... so just looking at getting our FINISHER MEDALS and actually RUNNING the ENTIRE Eagleman course.

Yes, they are going to run us on the same course that I did for the Eagleman Triathlon last year.. only difference is it WON’T be AFRICA HOT and 100 degrees out and thus me having to walk because ME NO ACCLIMATED TO HEAT...and Joe wont fry his laptop this time (yes at Eagleman he left his laptop in car waiting for me.. can you imagine how hot that got..).... so this time I am going to run in nice 50 degree rain and WILL BE HAPPY!

NIGHT ALL.... hope I can sleep ...I had two mountain dews...

This is me in LOTS-A-PAIN coming into finish at the Ocean Drive 5K.....

40 Somethings ROCK this week

Listed below are the race stories from the two 5K (3.1 mile) races that I did this week... Sunday, March 29th & Saturday, April 4th... I need a nap!

Ocean Drive 5K
Sunday, March 29th
4:00am: Rise and “shine”... yes on my day off I get up at 4am so I can drive the 2 hours to Cape May/Sea Isle City, NJ to run a 5K.. ok before you go calling up the men in the little white jackets... there is SOME logic to my madness.. I am the driver taking my friend Denise to run a Marathon. The Marathon runs from Cape May, NJ to Sea Isle City, NJ.....and so while I was down there.. I thought .. WHAT THE HECK.. run the 5K....

So you are probably wondering why... I am not running the marathon.. I mean seems kinda odd huh? ....That I would pass up this good ole opportunity to thrash around my legs a bit ...Well .....somehow over the last few months I fell in love with short distance and now have an aversion to anything over 13 miles...

KIDDING... I am just trying like hell to be good... I think I over raced and overtrained a bit at the end of last year and well this new year I wanted to work a bit more on my speed and shorter distance races...

5:00am: I am out the door by 5am..on my way to pick up Denise ... its drizzling, wet....cold, and I’m tired...and it’s SOOO early.

6:00am: I wonder who else is up at this time on a Sunday morning??...I pick up Denise and off we go.

8:00am: It's quite foggy ... gee where "diss" come from?? ...The winds were blowing quite good, about 13 mph... should be a nice tail wind for the marathoners as it was coming from the south.. Denise was not too fond of my weather wind observation... sticking my finger in the air.. yup coming from the south... she will be happy to be rid of me.

It was kinda cool ...kinda creepy with the fog rolling over the sand dunes.. and I thought how lucky I was NOT to be running 26.2 miles... I only had 3.1 miles to run when I get to Sea Isle. My race starts where Denise’s would end... so once I dropped her off I would have to high tail it to Sea Isle about 30 minutes or so away.

8:10am: What would a story be without drama...?>>> I wanted to wait until I made sure she had somewhere to wait inside for the start of the marathon and they did.. they had a nice inside waiting area.. so after she got settled I turned the truck around and headed to Sea Isle.. or so I thought... OK... well that’s a strange detour... round and round.. and back to detour again.. and around and around.

8:30am: they had already coned off the road ways.. making it IMPOSSIBLE for anyone to get outta Cape MAY.. WTF!!!!!....a bunch of us kept riding around in circles.... like is there only one main road out>....??? GRRRRRR

After about 15 minutes I was ready to bust a move through the cones when one of the traffic cops in an all pissy ass mood.. started flipping off the cones out of the way and moved his car so we all could LEAVE.. yes... BYE BYE... on my way to Sea Isle... I started to think again .. jeez.. what a LONG way this is... GLAD I AINT DOING THAT MARATHON!

9:00am: When I arrived at Sea Isle it had started to rain again... and proceeded to rain, mist, and winds blow... what to wear? ...I SO love running in the rain and would rather run in shorts than leggings ..as leggings get soaked easily... so I opted for shorts and short sleeve shirt.. BUT A FULL WINTER HAT AND GLOVES>..

I did my normal warm up of about a mile or so light jogging and then some stretches and then right before the race some sprints and leg lifts... to get me ready... and I had peeked the curiosity of a young lady who I believe looked to be a high school runner. She appeared either to be checking out the competition or wondering what the CRAZY OLD lady is doing..

10:00am: At the start I lined up as close to the front line as I could.. which was actually like the third line.. but it was the first line of females.. I figured this would also prevent me from going out too fast... WRONG.

I easily am enjoying life until about 400 meters down the road... that’s when I realize HOLY SHIT and a half.. you cannot run in the 5’s and even expect to finish.... the winds were brutal but I took some advice that Joe gave me about drafting behind some people.. and I did .. I drafted behind a guy for about three quarters of a mile until he pulled away leaving me alone to the wind.. it was NICE while it lasted.. I RECOMMEND that you do this anytime you can. The young gal that I mentioned before was drafting off of me.

The girl who ended up winning, past me at mile 7... and the second place winner a little after that.... it took me almost all of mile 2 to “catch my breath” and I wasted that mile... on the way back I had the help of the wind to push me into a very good third mile. I pushed with everything I had and felt like I was running in slow motion by the time I got to the finish line.. yes the thought did cross my mind on NEVER RUNNING AGAIN EVER.. but that passes once my heart rate returned to normal and I stopped gasping for breath. RUNNING IS FUN..HA UGH

10:23am: Although I did not PR.. I was pleased with my 23.45 finish. Now to change and wait results. I knew there were about 4-5 gals ahead of me in the race.. the two that passed me and then this speed demon who got me on the turn around... and so I knew there was a good chance I had placed.. but I was very pleasantly surprised to find out I placed 1st Female Masters.. very nice.

(Sea Isle)
11:40am: Before I knew it the marathoners were starting to trickle in ... I was soo enthralled with watching them come in as I had never had been on this end of the spectrum.. I am always in the marathon never watching... so it was utterly fascinating to see.

1:00ish: Denise came in...finished her marathon..I was soo proud of her.. the fact that she did it.. she dug deep and found it within her to finish even though her body had given up a while back.. that’s a true marathoner..
*****
Followup: So whats next... well I am going to keep on training and now its April and there are SOO many fun races to choose from... and then there is back to the grind with biking and swimming as the Half Ironman is coming up in June... and then there is Javelin practice.. Sigh....whats a girl to do!?


PS: They have my results as 23.54.. pisses me off.. I didn’t stop my watch until AFTER they took my bib tag off and I was clear of shoot.. my watch stated 23.45.. I am going with my score.. d-mn old woman who was manually clicking our times... !!
Ocean Drive 5K Results

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Kutztown 5K
Saturday, April 4th

5:00am: The forecast was calling for winds of 25 mph and gust up to 45... I shouldn’t be surprised... I have done this Kutztown’s 5K Fools Run three times and each year it’s either freezing, raining, and/or windy. This year we got only two of the three.. the cold and wind... I should be grateful.

8:00am: Didn’t do much of a warm up this time... usually I run about a 1 mile warm up.. and do some stretching and leg sprints... to get these old bones awake... but this time, I spent the time talking to my daughter and her friend Amber..I figure I was not too overly concerned with the outcome of this race.... Win or Lose... I just had to get it over and be done with it.

I had mixed feelings about this race... Never really cared for the course.. a little too hilly for me.. but it's always nice to visit Heather's College...and she “made me” sign up. It was her last year at Kutztown and she somehow convinced herself to run it and said I should.. yeah ok.. I am a sucker for races.. what the hell.

Joe had originally planned to attend too... but decided a nice warm bed and sleeping in was a better option... smart man..... So here I was sitting in my truck waiting for the start of the Fools Run...

8:45am: The wind was almost comical... you had to just let off a little scream into it.. e-gads.....as I was waiting for the race to start, I positioned myself next to a rather large sign to block some of the wind...a man who was the school reporter comes over to me to ask me some questions... Heather is watching this interaction from across the road... Amber said, "OMG is you mom giving that guy her phone number".. UGH.. too funny...

So I proceed to answer the reporters questions.. AND YES HE WAS THE SCHOOL'S REPORTER!!! Name...spell that please... no this was not my first year doing the race, third... . what did I like the most about the race... SILENCE .....(there was a GREAT BIG VOID OF SILENCE)... I kinda looked away... thought a moment.. looked at the reporter.. laughed.. more silence.. and said, “I HATE this course, its awful”... the guy's eyeballs almost popped out of his head...
I said don’t write that (OMG I am thinking..but I am just being honest)... I then proceeded to tell him I was running because my daughter went to college here and so on and then so on..that it was CHALLENGING.. yes challenging... . and that I had won the Female Masters Award the last two years and I guess I am back defending my title...

YIKES.. didn’t think about that.. I didn’t really want to worry about duking it out with anyone today.. but it was said.. it came out.. and was placed in the wind so to speak. About now it was time to go.. and I needed this race to be OVER WITH... !

9:05am: I lined up near the front with Heather and Amber ...and off we go... things went well for about 100 meters or so... and then the first rather large gust of wind hit us.. I think it about moved me a few inches sideways... I was hoping to draft off a larger person.. but people were too scattered so I just kinda made myself as small as possible and went with it...was almost like running in place at times...

At the first hill I noticed that a lady was running near me and then pulled ahead on the downhill... I didn’t really give it much thought as we were still less than a 1 mile into race. But I did pass her back right before mile one.. TAKE THAT.. !

9:12ish: Since my head was down most of the time trying to be “SMALL” because of the wind I had trouble seeing how many women were ahead of me on turn around.. I did see one youngster but didn’t see much after that... on the turn around I noticed that woman ..who I had passed was BACK...!!!....I’ll call her the hitcher...... out of my peripheral vision ...darn... she’s strong..

9:19ish: After the turn around the road grades up slightly and up slightly more and just when you think it can't keep a going up... you turn a corner and VIOLA.. there is a big ole hill in the way... sigh... HATE THIS hill.. done this two other times.. didn’t want to have to do this again....So glad this is my last year for this race.. and GOD BLESS the people doing the 10 miler.. JEEZ no way !!

So at the base of the hill I tell myself well you have two choices.. One .. you can run it.. or Two .. you can be a big ole baby and walk... hmmmm....NO way am I going to listen to that if I walk and Heather passes me.. yes Heather and Amber were somewhere behind me ...not sure of how far but let’s NOT find out.

As we start the hill the hitcher runs beside me.. It appears we are running the same pace... half way up hill she drops back... ok.. I chug up... I can hear her labored breathing.. she still there... as I crest the hill, it takes me a few minutes to collect myself to get the breathing back.. to find my legs.. and the hitcher sails past me... and she get a good 20 meters ahead... NOTE TO SELF: work on hill crest repeats..

I keep an eyeball on her... she keeps this 20 meter lead for about a ¼ mile... I am just watching... not getting any closer but certainly not falling back... the wind for some reason is STILL NOT at our backs. This sucks.. but kinda used to it.. I don’t think I have done a race yet that the weather was perfect... or even close to near perfect.....

9:27ish: As we get back into town and head to finish line I noticed that I had picked up some meters... the gap was closing... and this is all I needed to know.. either she was slowing down or I was speeding up... so I sped up more... the gap now was less than 3 feet.. I hung there... knowing full well that if she did not put a move on that I would wait until the last possible minute and sprint.. with hopes that she would not sprint with me.

I KNOW she knows I am still back there.. but I still try to hide my labored breathing and breath softly... I almost run up the back off her.. its too soon for a sprint but I cant risk anymore.. I power past her in full tilt.. she let out a sigh.. I HATE THAT.. because I know how she feels and I feel bad passing her but it’s a race ... and so I let it all out.. and she doesn’t come with me.. I do hear someone coming.. I think it was a young boy so I pick it up even more just in case.. .. my garmin clocked me at my fastest during this sprint in the high 4’s.. my legs going fall the F@#& OFF...I almost couldn’t stop when I hit the shoot... this is when a parachute most certainly would have come in handy.

Final time 24.32.. Better than last year and first female masters.. my hitcher was also a masters runner and came in 5 seconds behind me. Heather and Amber came in about a minute behind us. I had to walk a bit to get my legs shook out but I felt good... I was glad to be done.. glad it was my last Kutztown Race.. and glad that I didn’t give up when I saw the hitcher pull away after the last hill. NEVER GIVE UP... !!! You just never know... !!

I was kinda bummed though that I didn’t get a medal.. you know how I am about the hardware.. I got a gift cert for $25 for a running store in EMMAUS.. where ever the hell that is... I am not ungrateful.. really the race people do a phenomenal job... I love the afterwards soup, bagels, and the care they put into everything... I ended up being third overall woman.. and first female masters...

Heather was first in her age group of 18-24 and Amber was first in her age group 25-29.

Hopefully by the time you read this they have corrected results.. results were correct 15 minutes ago then some boob messed with them.. even though they didnt offer awards for top three overall just top one overall.. and top masters.. they put me as third female...and I GOT THE MASTERS award... idiots.. I wrote them an email... JEEZ US.. !
(Heather accepting her award)

It's time to rest the leggies a bit .....before next week’s half marathon in Cambridge!!! SIGH... UGH... It’s what I love about the sport... I think I would be bored to tears if I didn’t program so many races into my schedule... although I have been much better this year.. last year I would be running a 5K tomorrow too.. NOT going to do that this year...!!... I am behaving...

PS: the hitcher came up to me after the race and we chatted a bit.. she was 51.. didn’t look at all 51.... In fact I thought she looked in her 30’s.. thank goodness I didn’t let that fool me! She said she had wanted to beat me really bad. That I could relate to. HEY MAYBE SHE CHANGED RESULTS>> HA! At least it still says I was in front of her!!! :)
(Heather & Amber with their awards)
Kutztown 5K Results

Attitude

I was reading something the other day.. and have been thinking about it.... a really great saying...about attitude....

....is that 10% of life is made up of what happens to you and 90% of life is decided by how you react.

10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it…..So I dwell on this a bit… so when I react with, "I am going to kick you’re a-s because you are a f- moron..."
....what does that mean...????? That...

A) I am a realist
or
B) I have an attitude problem

Life is great… (I hope to post the story about the Ocean Drive 5K and Kutztown's 5K this weekend...